A Basket Of Love
by Ngoc Chau
Summary: AU. This is at the scene where Sally brings Jack the basket of stuff. This is where, what if she didn't run? Please R


**Disclaimer; Ngoc Chau does not own The Nightmare Before Christmas**

* * *

_Note; this is set at the scene where Sally brings Jack that gift basket and she runs away.  
But what if she didn't run then?  
I'm only focusing on this one scene. _

_If you want me to add more. _

_Private Message me about it or leave a memo about it if you review. _

_Well, let the show go on._

* * *

Jack stared at the huge chalkboard. The writing resembling the state his study was in. Completely cluttered by Christmas items. His brain was buzzing and often came to a dead end before he could find a conclusion to how he could explain what Christmas is to the townspeople.

He gave a sigh in frustration, but this was so interesting.

He just couldn't sit down and miss the coming epiphany.

* * *

Sally was just coming through the gate to Skellington Manor. Her legs were still aching a bit from falling from that huge tower. Still, she couldn't help herself from not going to Jack.

She saw the light in his tower was on but the lights downstairs were pitch-black.  
She didn't want to disturb him by ringing the doorbell and handing him to him like that.

What kind of person would do that to the one they loved?  
Take them away from something that mattered so much to them.  
No.

She looked around for some way to get her little gift basket up to him.

She could climb up.  
It could work, but how would she get down without tearing him away from his pondering?

What to do?  
What to do?  
What to do?

She looked a bit farther down the street and saw the living tree.

She adjusted the cover on the basket tighter so nothing would fall out. She ran, or in this case, stumbled to the tree and asked in a tired breath, "Excuse me. Would you mind giving me some extra rope?"

The tree replied in a low voice, "I don't know. Ask one of the skeletons."

She looked at one of the hanging skeletons and before she could ask, one of them spoke in a harsh whisper, "Take some of my rope. It's so long and it always drags. The big guy would've tripped, if Jack didn't suggest keeping it in my skull."

Sally blushed at the mention of Jacks name. The hanging skeleton put his hands to his skull and twisted his bony head off. He held out his head in a way that you'd be holding out a jar of cookies to someone and telling them "Go ahead. Take one."

She reached her little hand in and grabbed out a long over-sized rope. "Cut it, if you want." the thing said as she still held it to the ground. She grabbed a small pair of scissors and started to cut.  
It took less time to cut than she thought.

* * *

She went back outside his window, she wanted to make sure that it would get to him right away. So she decided to make a pully. She tried to throw it up, no good, it wouldn't hook onto anything and she could throw it high enough. Her arm was also a little bit sore from falling from the tower at Dr. Finklestein's.

She got a sudden idea. She unsewed one of her hands and tied the rope some end of it. She threw her hand with the other and it caught on to an odd rock on the wall.

It started the straining climb up to the top. After a great while, it finally reached it's destination and tossed the rope over a nook and went soaring down. Sally caught her hand in the nick of time before it dropped onto the ground. She tied one end of the rope to the basket and made sure that the basket wouldn't pull the rope over the nook completely.

Slowly, she started to pull the rope and the basket rose up.

* * *

As soon as it was right outside his window, she needed a way to get his attention.

She started to swing the end of the rope a bit and the basket started to tap against the window pane.

She was working out a what-to-do-after plan.  
She was very clever, having the high-grade brain the Dr gave her, but she didn't think about what would happen after Jack got her gift.  
She gave a sigh and just kept swinging the end of the rope.

'_Oh, what'll I do if Jack comes out?' _She thought to herself with a violet blush.

* * *

Jack was scratching at his skull, trying to figure out the equation that he had written.

He could start the problem, but it seemed impossible to solve it.  
But that was what he loved about it, always puzzling him and luring him in deeper. He dotted the end of his problem and continued to scratch at his skull in a thinking expression.

He heard a tapping sound, but he ignored it at first.  
Still it kept tapping, so after a few seconds, he went to the window to see.  
He opened the window and saw a basket.

That was a pleasant surprise.

He brought it gently in.

He looked down to see who could've brought it.  
It was Sally! he waved to her and she looked up in that demure pose of hers.

He went back to see what was inside the basket.

The cloth was still covering it, so it's contents were hidden. He didn't take it off completely, but most of it to see what was within.

He saw fish bones in bread. A very nice treat and fish was good to improve intelligence. He saw a few of this and that.  
Most were to help with thinking and some were good to have to relieve stress. A small bundle of chocolate spiders were in a corner.  
What stood out most was a green wine bottle.

His bony fingers went over the cork and he gave it a strong tug.

A popping sound was heard. From inside the wine, came a flurry of smoke and cloud. The cloud morphed into a grey butterfly flapping its wings.  
It diminished and disappeared after.

Jack looked down again and saw Sally still standing there.  
But then she suddenly collapsed and fell.

He looked worried and closed the window shut.  
He ran down the spiral stairs to the door.  
He had to see what was wrong with Sally.

* * *

Sally saw that Jack had noticed her gift to him.

**Note, this is at the time when he saw the basket at his window.**

She decided the plan to leave, but something was amiss. Her legs couldn't move and it was like her limbs were mere sticks.

"Move, why don't you?!" she whispered harshly to her legs.

She heard the popping sound of the cork on the wine bottle.  
She tried to move, she even pinched herself, but still her legs wouldn't budge. She looked up to see if Jack was at the window.

He was and she blushed.

Then without warning, her legs gave way and she fell.  
She was mortified now.  
She had embarrassed herself in front of her crush!

She hoped she could be able to run away. But when she took a closer look at her legs. She saw that the joint within her right leg, at the knee, was completely severed!  
She would need a wrench, heck, any type of tool to do it up.

She could do it easily, but walking was going to be a heavy chore for her.

How would she be able to get home on one leg?  
It wouldn't be able to support her entire weight and how would she be able to climb up the tower to her room or find some other way in?  
She couldn't go to the Doctor's to get tools, he would probably catch her limping away with one leg.

The things she sacrificed for Jack, but it was all out of love.

Then she heard his door opening and rushing footsteps.

* * *

Jack saw Sally sitting with her legs to her side.

He noticed something odd, what was that thing next to her feet. He squinted and saw it was her leg!  
She looked straight into his eye sockets with such a pitiful look.

He felt his ribcage beating harder than ever. He extended his hand to her and asked in a comforting voice,  
"Sally? Are you alright?" She smiled and said nervously,  
"I'm just fine...Jack."

She tried to stand up, but stumbled, she had to support herself against the wall of his house and she tried as hard as she could to get the other half of her leg.  
As soon as she touched it, she fell over. Luckily Jack caught her before she could fall and bruise herself.  
"You don't look fine, Sally. Just let me help you." he said as he still had her in his arms.

She couldn't help but blush at how gentlemanly he was.  
She nodded and he brought his long bony arm under her legs and asked in an almost playful tone,  
"Do you have your leg?"

She looked down at her hand and saw that her leg was slipping from her grip, she took her other hand and held it while she adjusted her grip on her leg with the same hand.  
He waited until she was done until he lifted her up completely.

She yelped a bit in surprise at how he could carry her like she was only a pile of feathers. He held her high up from the ground due to his height and so that they could both meet eye-to-eye  
_(The position is bridal style, of course.)_

She couldn't help but be a little afraid so with the other hand that wasn't holding the leg, she hooked it over his neck and held tight.

"Whoa, careful there. You might choke me to the next life!" he said while laughing a hearty laugh.

She loosened her grip but leaned in more against his pin-striped suit.  
She could feel all the individual ribs at his chest.  
He saw how close she moved to him and he assumed that she might have been afraid of the height of having him carry her.

She _was_ slightly shorter than him, no she reached to his shoulder or so. He had to check when she was standing sometimes.  
He made a self memo of that.

"Sally, are you scared that I'll drop you?"

She looked straight into his eye sockets again and fidgeted. She stuttered among the simplest phrases, but came to,  
"No, not at all Jack. But...But...It's just..."

Jack interrupted her,  
"Sally, it's okay if you're afraid, it's good to be afraid. I was kidding about choking me before. If you want to hold tight, then hold tight."

She brought the same hand around his neck again and held on.  
He carried her to his door and thought ahead that they wouldn't be able to fit through in this position. So he turned sideways and carefully brought her in without bumping any part of her against the frame of the doorway.

He entered inside his house.

She looked around in curiosity.

His house certainly looked bigger than it did from outside. She could see numerous rooms, but in front of each room was a doorway with a twisted door. It were all separated from each other, no connection.  
She thought he would probably set her down on the ground and get something like a needle and thread or tape.  
But no, he kept waking deeper into the dark hallway, until he came to a set of stairs.

The stairs spiraled into a single line and he carried her up.  
'_Oh, what is he doing with me?' _She wondered.

The stairs now had 2 directions to go up to.  
To his study or to the second floor of Skellington Manor.  
He chose to walk down the second floor. He walked to the end of the hall in front of a door.

This door had skulls everywhere and words of Latin.

The one word she recognised was , "Jack Skellington".

The door was slightly up a step. He slowly set her down for a second and told her,  
"This won't be long. I just need to get the door open."  
He took out a key from the pocket hidden inside his jacket and unlocked the door.

He helped her walk inside to the room.  
The room was dark. It had shreddd drapes. Torn wallpaper adorned it all.  
The rug was gritty and made with something coarse. There was a wide window with cracked panes.  
A large wardrobe crawling with bugs. A large canopy bed in the corner with blood red sheets and pillows.  
The bed had a decaying smell to it. Like someone had died in it.

The room to the both of them was...Beautiful.

He helped her over to the bed and sat her down on it. She asked in a mousy voice,  
"Jack, is this your room?"

He opened the drapes to let the moonlight in and turned back to her.

"Yes" he answered, "This is my room. I thought of bringing you upstairs, but the whole place is a mess. So this was about the next best place to bring you."  
He stood in front of her with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face. "Sally, what were you doing out, so late at night?"

She fidgeted, trying to answer his question. But, heaven bless her, something intervened.  
She yelped out an ouch when her severed leg, was tapping it's foot impatiently and 'accidently' kicked her other foot. They both looked down and Jack said in a stupor,  
"Oh, your leg! I completely forgot! Do you need anything for it? Thread and needle?"

She picked up her leg and put it across her lap. She replied,  
"That would be very nice Jack, and if you can, can you get me a screw and a wrench too?"

He nodded and went to the door. Suddenly his ghost dog Zero appeared from the floorboards. Jack stopped and said eagerly,  
"Zero! There you are. Can you keep Sally company until I come back?"  
Zero gave a positive bark and Jack said to Sally, "Sally, Zero can keep you company, so stay there until I come back, okay?"

She looked down at her hands and fidgeted again,  
"Yes, Jack."

* * *

Jack came back up with every type of wrench and screw he could, along with all the nedles and thread he could find also.

At first, Sally looked at all the screws, none of them could fit with her metal skeleton joint inside and all the wrenches couldn't fit into the old bent screw she had either. She gave a sigh and decided just to sew up her leg.  
No big deal.

Jack saw how any of his tools could help her, so he offered,  
"Sally, if you can't walk home, you can stay here until morning. I could even bring you home myself."

Sally just froze still then.

She wouldn't say anything.  
He started to wonder if she was okay.

"Sally?"

Nothing.

"Sally?"

Nothing again.

He walked closer to her and bent down to her level.

"Sally?"

Nothing once more.

He waved his skeletal hand in front of her face.  
She shook one sec, then her eyes becalme more alive as though she had just come out of a trance.  
"Oh, yes?"

Jack thought she had said yes to his offer.  
"Yes? Okay then."  
He walked to the door, preparing to leave. Sally asked him,  
"Jack, where are you going?"

Jack was at the door frame already, with Zero floating next to him.  
"Well, it's very late and we should both be getting to bed. You can stay here, I'll sleep in my study."

She knew she couldn't say no to this man, so she just said to him,  
"Goodnight, Jack." He went out and closed the door behind him.

Sally went back to her sewing.  
Jack was walking to the stairs until he remembered that he had to bring the tools upstairs for him the next morning.

He walked back to the door.  
On the other hand, Sally was finishing up sewing.  
She was planning to go gather up al the things he brought for her and bringing them all up to his study. She had heard him running up their, looking for all this for her.

She walked, nay stumbled to the door.

At the same moment, the 2 were at the door. Sally was somewhat leaning against it , while Jack was opening it.

He swung it open and she fell into his arms. He caught sight of her falling and bent slightly to ask her directly if she was okay, whereas she was leaning forward, trying to catch on the door frame.

Because of the 2 opposite actions, it resulted in a kiss.

She leaned in more for support, which Jack mistook as his signal to deepen the kiss. He pulled her closer to him and flickered his tongue over her ruby lips for entrance.  
She opened her mouth from how ticklish it felt and he seized the oppotunity.

To any mortal, she would taste of dirt and death and decaying flesh, but to Jack, she tasted of the most sought after tastes. Sally carefully wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed.  
After a few moments, Jack ended the kiss so they could both breathe.

Sally was blushing and steaming from the new experience she had dared only to dream about. Jack regretted what he had done. He had taken advantage of a friend while she was in need of help. He solumnly carried her to the bed and set her down.

He gently took her hand and kissed it.  
She was beyond confused now, what was he going to do?

After, he bowed a little and said quietly,  
"I'm sorry. Please forgive my rude behavior."

He then went to the door and closed it.

He walked to the end of the hall and started knocking against his skull.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he said quietly to himself at what he had done.

Sally simply laid in bed and closed her eyes. It would be best not to do anything else, lest she wanted to get on his bad side again.

* * *

The next morning, Jack woke up in a yawn.  
He didn't get much sleep for he was thinking about how he could repent for what he had done. But on the other hand, what was mostly on his mind was how the kiss went.  
Of course he had kissed other creautres, he was the Pumpkin King after all. He had many suiters before. But Sally felt different. A kind of different he liked, like Christmas.

He went to his bedroom and knocked,  
"Are you decent?" he asked. "

Sally quickly answered, "Yes."  
He opened the door, expecting Sally to be sewing or whatnot. She was, but not sewing how he expected. She had taken off the top half of her ragged dress and mended some of the holes that had grown when she landed in hard pavement last night.

She was a sorta pale blue and stitches ran across her. The more noticable was at her torso where her chest cavity was and her...ahem...bust area.

He ran out and slammed the door hard.  
He started breathing hard.  
Was she doing this on purpose?!

He had gotten over his libido decades ago and now she was stirring it up again. He could hear her calling from the other side of the door,  
"Jack, what's wrong? It was like something spooked you."

He straightened himself up and cleared his throat. He tried to say something that would...would...do anything about the situation.  
He called from the door, "Sally? Did you know what I meant when I asked if you were decent?"

She replied, "Well, decent means nice and I do think I am nice."  
He laughed a bit at how irony was taunting him. "Sally...When I asked you if you were decent, I didn't mean to ask if you were nice. I meant, 'Are you dressed?'"

There was an eerie silence. Jack opened the door and Sally was already in sobs. "I'm so sorry!" She weeped.  
Jack went over to comfort her. She sat up with her legs to the side on the bed, and he sat next to her, patting her back.

"Don't cry Sally..."

More crying.

"There, there."

She quieted down a bit.

"We should get you home then, yes?"

Louder crying.

"What's wrong? You don't want to go home?"

Nodding and sobbing.

"The Doctor must be worried...But how's this? Before I take you back, we'll get something sweet to eat in the town and walk by the Black lake. Okay?"

Calmness and an "Okay."

* * *

They both left the house and walked to the witches part of the street, well not exactly walk. Jack was still carrying her which brought a lot of attention to them.  
He went to the window of a bakery that a witch had set up and set her down on a close by bench.

She hoped that the Doctor wouldn't be out and find her.

Jack had ordered something, but Sally couldn't exactly make it out. She just looked all around. She never had a chance to gaze. Most of the time she could go to the town was for groceries then come straight home.  
Jack tapped her shoulder and handed the treat to her.

It was some sort of round ball with a gooey slime drizzled over it. It tasted like strawberries and squid.  
Delicious.

They sat on the bench, eating their slime buns. When they were done, Jack stood up in front of her and offered his hand. She grabbed it and he swept her off her feet into his arms. She laughed at how quick he had done it. He laughed too just for the sake of it.  
He carried her bridal style.

They walked to the Black Lake and sat down on the dirty gravel and dead grass.  
They basked in it's scenery. The lake was bubbling and they could see a tentacle crawl out of it once in a while. Skeleton birds flew over it, but would be pulled down by some force and sink to the depths.

They were probably out there for about 45 minutes. Finally Jack suggested,  
"Do you want to go back now?"  
Sally wanted to tell him no, she would've rather stayed with him. But she didn't want to drag Jack away from his study. She did already, but she didn't want to take his attention away from it any longer.

She nodded.

He carried her back up and walked to the Doctor's tower. Jack asked as he laughed,  
"Can you ring the doorbell? My hands are a bit full."  
He bent down a bit and she reached her hand out to ring the doorbell.

Igor came to the door and said in a raspy voice, "Oh...Jack Skellington. Come in...The Master will be happy to see you.."

Jack stepped in while holding Sally.  
He was guided to a seat and still he held Sally in his arms. The Dr came rolling down and said in an almost angry voice, but it had to be hushed in front of company.  
"Sally. You're home. I was so worried when you suddenly disappeared. "

Jack said, "Dr, Sally broke her leg at my house and she'll need to be fixed."

"Yes, m'boy. I'll get her fixed up. So you can just give her to me."

Jack stood and looked around.  
"Where would you like me to bring her?" he asked. The Dr was already on his way up the stairs and said, "Just bring her up to my lab."

He took her upstairs and into the lab.  
He set her down on the large board with straps and buckles on.

He turned and started to leave. Sally kept watching this dead Prince Charming walk away.  
"Bye Jack." she said as the Dr started to strap her in.  
Jack waved back and said, "Bye Sally, Dr. I'll come back in a few days or so to check up on Sally."

With that, he walked out of the room and down the stairs.

On his way out, he was wondering how he could make it up to Sally for his behavior.

* * *

**Yeah, so review and tell me what you thought of it and/or whether you think I should continue on or keep it as a oneshot. To any of my staff members who read this, Start adding to the community!!**


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